Matters of Life and Stupidity
by Dreams of Shadows
Summary: JA Series. A drabble fic based on the Avengers reaction to Jess' saving Coulson and supposed death.


**A/N: This Ficlet is dedicated to guest: EverybodyNobody who wanted to see the Avengers reactions to Jess saving Coulson.**

My body was three steps ahead of my mind as I slid across to protect Coulson's back, Loki appearing from god knows where and missing the agent as I protected him.

"No!" I heard Thor shout. Surprise showed on Loki's face. And I looked down to see my hands had grabbed hold of his when he had plunged the knife into my stomach. A pool of red began to spread. Loki became angry. Coulson turned to help.

That's right about where it started to go wrong.

The Norse God let go of the knife, after giving it a purposeful twist and pulled my arms off him as he grabbed my throat.

"If you want to be a hero so much then I'll let you share my brother's fate," he hissed, practically spitting out the word brother. He swung his other arm around and hit Coulson around the head. The agent dropped to the ground, no-one to stop Loki as he practically pushed me along, making me trip on the steps as he went to stand by the control panel.

He put on a mocking face of regret, his grip tightening on my throat as he spoke.

"And I was going to let you live," he said, sighing dramatically and shaking his head. "I would have spared you the fate of the rest of humanity."

Yeah, only in return for information. I tried to send that thought across in my glare. Whether he got it or not I don't know, but he smirked at me before pushing one of the buttons and throwing me backwards.

I barely had time to register what was happening before I hit something solid, both things tumbling to the floor. But as I watched the glass door slide shut I knew it must have been Thor. I struggled to my feet as Loki went to press the big red button that would sent us plummeting to our deaths.

Or rather- my death.

Loki seemed victorious as he pressed the button, the sound of the wind rushing in sending fear into my heart and the sudden feeling of weightlessness meaning I was now only seconds away from death.

/

Fury rushed to the cell, knowing even before he'd got there that the prisoner had escaped. How could he not have seen this coming; of course the so-called god was going to have an escape plan. He should have prepared better, all he could hope for was for the Avengers to stop him- but if their argument earlier had any indication then they were doomed. They had to be reprimanded by their prisoner for Christ's sake, and even though she hadn't shown any signs of working for Loki he still felt mistrust towards her. His agents had informed him of her chat with Loki earlier and we would have to make sure to watch that over.

As he rounded the corner the first thing he noticed was that the cell was gone. The second was Coulson's still form on the ground. Apparently it wasn't the god who'd been dropped then. Coulson stirred and he was immediately at the agent's side.

"Agent Coulson," he said firmly, not letting any traces of concern he may have been feeling creep into his voice. He assisted him in sitting up, waiting until the agent was propped against the wall before speaking. "What happened?"

"Attwater…" Coulson said, rubbing his head in an attempt to clear it. Fury's eye narrowed- had she turned out to be a traitor? "She… She saved me."

"What?" Fury wasn't quite sure he heard that right. "She saved you?"

"Loki… tricked me and appeared behind me," explained the agent. "Attwater was with me and she stepped in behind and took the blow before… She must have known about this…He-Loki… said something about sharing his brother's fate…"

His eyes moved over to the spot where the cage had been previously hanging and it all came together. She and Thor had been dropped; which meant not only had they lost a key team member they'd also lost valuable information.

"We'd better inform the others that their numbers are down," Fury said out loud and Coulson nodded in agreement, his thoughts on the young woman who had just saved his life and the confirmation- in his mind at least- that she wasn't an enemy.

Fury snapped out orders as they attempted to get everything back together, going back to the deck and finding Tony and Steve there. From what he could gather they'd gained Hawkeye back- he was in the Med-bay with Black Widow, but they'd lost Banner and Thor. He stood at the table and looked at them both, Captain America with a weary look in his eye but a stiff Military posture, and with Stark the usual snarky self-confidence was gone- which on any other day would have been just grand.

"Banner's gone," Fury stated, getting no reaction from the two. "Thor and the girl have taken a fall as well."

"You mean in the cage?" asked Steve. Fury nodded. "What was she doing near there anyway?"

"Saving me," interceded Coulson before Fury could reply. "She took a hit for me and apparently Loki didn't appreciate it."

"What do expect from a crazy chick," said the playboy with a snort, a bitter tone embroiling his words.

"Sacrificing yourself to save someone else isn't crazy," countered Steve sharply, turning to face Tony. "And besides she was with Thor and with the hits that guy can throw out I'm sure they have a chance of making it."

"That tank was meant for the Hulk," pointed out Tony, but he didn't sound like he believed in that idea completely. "I'm sorry but our survey says- they're dead."

"That girl was more of a hero than you." They stared at each other angrily, Fury and Coulson made no move to intervene. "Maybe it's just because I'm awake after 70 years on ice to discover that gods are aliens, people can turn into monsters or fly in metals suits… but I'm not having a hard time accepting that she was telling the truth. I don't think it was a coincidence she was down by the cage and I think that she and Thor are alive."

"Well you're clearly the expert on multidimensional theories," scoffed Tony. "And even if by some chance they do survive the fall- I doubt she'll make it out uninjured and no amount of luck and thunder will keep her alive."

There was a short pause before Fury decided he would speak.

"There was an idea to bring together a group of remarkable people, ," began Fury. "So when we needed them, they could fight the battles that we never could..."

**A/N: Okay, well I hope you like that. Please feel free to review- I know I'd like that. ;) Also, if you were to give Jess a codename what would it be? It's a little something that's been hanging around in my mind and I have no answer to it.**

**Keep an eye out for the Loki/Jess fic that will hopefully be making an appearance as requested by Ellize Avalon. For a hint at what my mind had thrown me for this; it will be a The Amazing Spider-Man and The Avengers crossover, will definitely end up needing a prequel to explain certain events and will introduce… four new villains from the Marvel-verse? Two from each side so-to-speak- although technically they're from Space (Hint!)**

**Please review and feel free to drop a request. ^-^**


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